Follow Me Back by A. V. Geiger

Follow Me Back by A. V. Geiger

Release Date: June 6, 2017 (tomorrow!!)

In the words of Eric Thorn,
Whoa
Whoa
Whoa
Whoa
Whoa

Tessa Hart’s world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it’s like his speaking directly to her…

Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn’t help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies.

When a fellow pop star is murdered at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast—like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric’s plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world’s best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn…

Told through tweets, direct messages, and police transcripts.

Was I expecting to really enjoy this? No, not really, but this book made me sit down for a three to four straight hours and just read and read and read until I was done with it. And then I wanted to read some more. I’m not entirely sure what happened, but I’m going to try and talk about it in a somewhat articulate manner here.

First off, A. V. Geiger has a wonderful writing style. I liked how she included texts, DMs, and regular ole writing inside this novel. It made it so much cooler to see all the different things. Also, she has a very authentic voice. It felt like I knew these characters and were these characters. Truthfully, when I see the words Wattpad author, I get scared. I used to be on Wattpad and have read some of the books that do come from Wattpad authors, and I have not liked ¾ of them. However, I’m not surprised this book was a Wattpad sensation, because Geiger has a talent. I’ll definitely be picking up books again from her in the future.

Also, there was nothing dull about this book. I thought for sure at some point there would be a lull or I could find a good breaking point and be done with it for a minute, but there was never time to breathe properly. I had to find out what was going on; I had to know what was going to happen. The pacing was wonderfully done, and I COULDN’T STOP READING. This was the first book in a long time that made me go, screw the self-appointed time I was supposed to go to sleep; I NEED TO READ.

The characters were fantastic as well. I loved their characterization, and they felt supremely realistic to me. I can’t really comment on the authenticity of Tessa’s agoraphobia, but it felt really realistic to me. AND THE GUY DIDN’T SAVE THE DAY. As many of us know, in a lot of mental illness story, once the heroine meets the cute boy, her mental illness seems to disappear. That is not at all what happened with Tessa, and I thought that was so many A++++’s.

I also really connected and enjoyed Tessa. I understand her fangirlness, but I could see where Eric could hate it as well. You really don’t think about what it is like to be on the receiving end of it, and I loved how his own struggles were portrayed as well. I believe Geiger had to have done a lot of research, and her representations and characterization came off wonderfully done. I’m just so impressed.

The only small issue I had with this book came at the end. The ending was insanity – in a good way. Trust me, every single review will be going WHOA. But my issue came at about…maybe like 90%? Like after most of the action happened and there was this one part where I totally thought that the author was going with, could see the signs, but it never happened. It felt…it just felt off.

Tiana does NOT have time for Twitter drama…she’s too busy running her epic restaurant and keeping Naveen on track.

(FOR THOSE THAT HAVE READ IT, HERE IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT: DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS IN THE PARATHESES: So, what I’m talking about is the point where Tessa and Eric finally meet. Like, was it just me or did it seem like Eric’s personality shifted? Like, he began a bit stalkery, a bit obsessive? He seemed a bit abrasive, especially when Tessa was like, um, no, I don’t like this. I thought, OMG, this is the insane plot twist. But then they end up togetherish? I think this might be where the second book is going with it, and I really hope so because OMG, that would be amazing and perhaps explain about that crazy, crazy ending. But the ending really messed with my mind and I got a bit mad that it left this hole unresolved here and a bit rushed.)

END OF MY SPOILER THING.

Overall, this story was SUCH a delight. I totally didn’t expect that it was going to make me sit four three hours and devour it whole. I can’t wait for the second book, and I super can’t wait to see what Geiger has up next on her sleeve. She has a talent, and these characters and story were deliciously complex. Five crowns for sure, and a Tiana rating (sadly because of that ending)!

Check it out:

• Goodreads
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

What do you think? Does an ending make or break a book for you? If you read this, what do you think of my thoughts on the ending? Let’s discuss in the comments below!